Monday, February 16, 2026 2/16/2026

Engineering tumor-targeting bacteria to sense and deliver therapeutics

Award Number: K00CA253756
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/10/2020
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2025
AWARD TERMINATION DATE: 12/19/2025

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Engineering tumor-targeting bacteria to sense and deliver therapeutics - Project Summary The ability to engineer living cells as intelligent therapeutic agents is poised to transform current cancer treatment paradigms. Based on the inherent growth specificity of some natural and exogenous bacteria to solid tumors, microbes have been explored as programmed vehicles to deliver therapeutics to tumor environments. However, a universal challenge for developing this next-generation living therapy is the lack of tools to study the dynami- cally interacting population of bacteria and cancer cells. Consequently, the vast majority of the past studies have relied on animal models that only test a handful of therapeutic candidates and provide limited spatiotemporal information. To address this challenge, I have recently developed a 3D multicellular coculture platform that ena- bles high-throughput characterization of bacteria in tumor spheroids, assessing dynamics of multicellular inter- actions and predicting therapeutic efficacy in vivo. In this proposal, I will leverage the 3D coculture technologies and synthetic biology tools to construct novel bacterial systems that sense and express therapeutics specifically in tumors. In the F99 phase, I will engineer tumor-homing bacteria to dynamically regulate production of cytotoxic molecules in response to tumor shrinkage. Specifically, as the cancer cell death increases the level of oxygen in the tumor core, I will engineer a bacterial biosensor circuit to monitor this change in the tumor microenvironment. By detecting rises in oxygen levels, which indicate extensive therapeutic progression, this gene circuit will reduce the therapeutic level produced, minimizing off-target toxicity. In the K00 phase, I will repurpose tumor-homing bacteria to target and eradicate oncogenic F. nucleatum in colorectal cancer. I will apply the 3D coculture platform to screen anti-F. nucleatum peptides delivered by bacteria to tumor spheroids. Orthotropic mouse cancer models will be used to assess the F. nucleatum elimination, effect on commensal microbiota, and cancer progression. Collectively, the proposed work will utilize a novel engineering framework to develop effective bacterial cancer therapies towards clinical translation.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = -$5,042 )
2026	2024	PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE	1033 MASSACHUSETTS AVE STE 3	CAMBRIDGE	MA	02138	MIDDLESEX	USA	Cancer Research Manpower	000	5	12/19/2025	TERMINATION	$0
2026	2024	PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE	1033 MASSACHUSETTS AVE STE 3	CAMBRIDGE	MA	02138	MIDDLESEX	USA	Cancer Research Manpower	001	5	1/12/2026	TERMINATION	-$5,042
														Subtotal = -$5,042

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $93,078 )
2024	2024	PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE	1033 MASSACHUSETTS AVE STE 3	CAMBRIDGE	MA	02138	MIDDLESEX	USA	Cancer Research Manpower	000	5	7/31/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$93,078
														Subtotal = $93,078

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $88,627 )
2023	2023	PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE	1033 MASSACHUSETTS AVE 5TH FL	CAMBRIDGE	MA	02138	MIDDLESEX	USA	Cancer Research Manpower	002	4	8/28/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$88,627
2023	2022	PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE	1033 MASSACHUSETTS AVE 5TH FL	CAMBRIDGE	MA	02138	MIDDLESEX	USA	Cancer Research Manpower	001	3	12/15/2022	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$0
2023	2022	PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE	1033 MASSACHUSETTS AVE 5TH FL	CAMBRIDGE	MA	02138	MIDDLESEX	USA	Cancer Research Manpower	000	3	10/21/2022	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$0
														Subtotal = $88,627

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $85,795 )
2022	2022	PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE	1033 MASSACHUSETTS AVE 5TH FL	CAMBRIDGE	MA	02138	MIDDLESEX	USA	Cancer Research Manpower	000	3	9/16/2022	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$85,795
														Subtotal = $85,795

Grand Total All Awards = $262,458

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Engineering tumor-targeting bacteria to sense and deliver therapeutics

Award Number: K00CA253756

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/10/2020

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2025

AWARD TERMINATION DATE: 12/19/2025

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer